


Cold Hands and Green Eyes

by ShadowOfASoul17



Series: Chance Encounters and the Past [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Headcanon, Ignis is love, One-Sided Attraction (slight), graphics tag is for last chapter, idk i wanted to post this, major headcanon idek anymore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-10-31 01:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10888590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowOfASoul17/pseuds/ShadowOfASoul17
Summary: Even with gloves on, Playmaker's hands were as cold as ice when he had saved Blue Angel. Yusaku's hands felt like ice when he had extended one to help her up. Playmaker's eyes were intense green, cold and serious. Yusaku's startling green eyes were cool and nonchalant, with a hidden degree of seriousness. Why didn't Aoi realize it earlier?





	1. Familiarity

**Author's Note:**

> Idk. I've rewatched episode 1 and I had to do this. This will most likely be a three-shot. Most of the "romance" (This doesn't even seem like romance) is heavily implied. Enjoy?

 

_His hands are so cold._

That, actually, was Blue Angel's first impression of Playmaker. Her character data and account were about to be destroyed by the dragon the Knight of Hanoi wielded, when impossibly-cold hands grabbed her and pulled her to a safe place away from the fire. When she looked up, her eyes met intense green ones. "Who are you?" She asked in shock. 

 

He didn't answer her, but his hand remained on her waist, steadying her. His eyes flicked toward her for a split second, and she could have sworn his expressionless mask had broken for a second, a flash of recognition appearing through his eyes--

 

\--and suddenly, he let go of her and turned away to face the Knight of Hanoi that had caught up to him. The Knight asked the same question she had asked, and he replied. 

 

"My name is Playmaker." 

 

Blue Angel nearly gasped.  _This_ was the hacker that was single-handedly taking down the Knights of Hanoi? She didn't hear any more words the two men had exchanged, staring at Playmaker in shock. 

 

And then Playmaker turned back to her, murmuring some words she had to strain her ears to hear. "Get out of here and log out before your character data gets attacked again. Do you understand me?"

 

She hurriedly nodded and ran, leaving Playmaker and the Knight of Hanoi behind her. Once she felt like she was in a safe enough place, she logged out. 

 

And Zaizen Aoi found herself back in her bedroom. The TV was on, showing the duel against Playmaker. With a sigh, she fell back onto her bed. 

 

Just  _who_ was Playmaker?

 

* * *

 

Aoi wasn't surprised to hear conversations centered on Playmaker the next day at school. She had taken her seat and was playing a random game on her tablet, while she overheard people gushing over Playmaker. 

 

"He's so cool!"

 

"Did you see that final strike? That Knight of Hanoi had no chance against him!"

 

"I wanna Speed Duel as well!"

 

"I wonder who he is in real life..."

 

"He's probably a really cute guy!" Now that was from one of the girls. 

 

Aoi sighed and closed her game. She turned her head, and brown eyes flicked around the classroom, silently noting the names of the classmates she recognized. 

 

There was Tsukiyomi Misaki, the extremely attractive and self-proclaimed popular girl. She was quite a strong duelist in Link VRAINS, but in reality, she was quite shallow and went after every single attractive boy in the school. She was the one who had speculated about Playmaker's appearance. But judging from her irritated expression as well, she was one of the duelists who had their player data erased by the Knight of Hanoi. She was surrounded by her lackeys, equally shallow and clueless girls. Aoi wondered if Misaki knew she existed. 

 

Her eyes landed on a boy with blue and pink hair, head resting on his arms as he slept.  _Fujiki...what was his first name again? Yu...Yusaku! Right._

She knew very little about him. He always slept through class, but somehow managed to still achieve top marks in the grade. But other than that, there was barely anything she knew about him.

The bell finally rang, signaling the beginning of school. 

 

* * *

Mizuki-sensei was at it again. 

 

The math teacher was usually very kind and taught the class well, but she had a very precarious relationship with her boyfriend, and she often took her anger out on the class. When that happened, she became a demon in the classroom and yelled quite often, scolding the students for careless, stupid mistakes. 

 

Aoi sighed as Mizuki-sensei ranted on about functions and polynomials and who knows what else. While she did have high marks, no one was able to understand anything in math class when Mizuki-sensei was in a bad mood. And through it all, Yusaku slumbered. And today, Mizuki-sensei had noticed and decided to take her anger out on him.

 

"Fujiki! Fujiki Yusaku-san!" 

 

Yusaku slowly raised his head and tired eyes met Mizuki-sensei's furious ones. "Wha--"

 

"You don't come to class just to sleep! If you honestly think you can pass school by sleeping, you are seriously wrong! Now, solve this expression!" The expression, in question, was incredibly long and had taken the class a while to copy down on their own tablets, much less solve.

 

Without even looking at the board, Yusaku spoke. "2xy squared plus the cube root of y. Also, unless you want number 4 to be impossible to solve, you should rewrite x cubed as x squared."

 

The class turned as one and gaped at him. Yusaku ignored the glances and went back to sleep. At the board, Mizuki-sensei was gaping at him, too shocked to scold him for going back to sleep. 

 

Aoi gaped at the other student. Just how did he solve the problem without even looking at it?

 

* * *

 

The bell rang, signaling the end of school. Students stood up and exited the room, murmuring about homework and duels and who knows what else. Aoi packed up her bag and walked up the stairs slowly. Yusaku was still sleeping, and she was mentally debating whether to just walk past him or wake him up. Just then, she quickly sidestepped into a row of chairs as a pudgy kid with green hair ran past her and up to Yusaku. The blue-haired teen opened one eye to glance up at him. Aoi ran through the names in her mind, trying to identify the student. Shi...Shino? Shiunin? Shima! That was it, Shima. She watched as they conversed (rather, Shima was ranting on about something while Yusaku was just listening silently). She gave up and decided to walk past them, heading outside.  

 

She was halfway outside when she remembered she had forgotten her tablet with her. 

 

Aoi spun and dashed back into the school building, panic fuelling her run. She couldn't lose that tablet. It contained all her school work, all her game data, even some files on Blue Angel--

 

"Kyaa!"

 

"Ack!"

 

Aoi slammed into a taller body and was knocked to the ground. Wincing in pain, she looked up to see Yusaku rubbing his head. "Ow..." He groaned in pain. 

 

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!"

 

"It's alright," Yusaku replied tersely. "I should have been looking where I was going as well." He rose to his feet and extended a hand to help her up. "Here."

 

"T-thank you," Aoi stuttered, taking his offered hand in her own and pulling herself up. And she gasped. 

 

His hands were as cold as ice. 

 

"Is something wrong?" Yusaku asked. 

 

Aoi shook her head. "Your hand...it's just really cold."

 

A flicker of amusement lighted on Yusaku's eyes. "I get that often." He let go of her hand. "If you don't mind, can I ask why you were running back to school?" He didn't look interested, probably just trying to obtain information.

 

"I, uh, left my tablet in the classroom."

 

"Your tablet? I think I saw it in the classroom. It should still be there."

 

"Really? Thank you, Fujiki-san!"

 

"Don't worry about it..." 

 

"Zaizen. Zaizen Aoi."

 

"Zaizen-san, then." Their eyes met, and Aoi realized his eyes were green. 

 

An intense, bright and startling green. 

 

_Where have I seen those eyes_   _before...?_

And then, they broke eye contact as Yusaku turned to leave. 

 

Aoi was silent as she went to the classroom and grabbed her tablet. 

 

_His eyes...his hands...where have I seen and experienced this before?_

* * *

Dinner at the Zaizen house was always an awkward affair. 

 

Aoi usually ate alone and in her bedroom, her brother often too busy at work to eat with her. She often wished he would stop working and eat with her once in a while. Today was apparently the day, although it didn't go as well as she wished it would.

Her brother's secretary, Yui, had finally managed to convince him to take a break from work since Playmaker had kept the Knights of Hanoi from launching any more attacks after the previous fiasco. The two of them were sitting across from each other, Aoi picking at her food and Akira typing into a laptop. Even if he wasn't at work, he would still be writing programs or emails to his subordinates. 

 

Aoi sighed and put down her chopsticks with a clink. Akira looked up at the sound. "You're done?"

 

"I'm not hungry," she fibbed.  

 

"I see." Akira didn't look concerned at all as he turned back to his laptop. 

 

"Nii-san..." Aoi said hesitantly. 

 

"Yes?" Akira said without looking up. 

 

"How was work?" She asked.

 

Akira sighed. "Not well. The Knights of Hanoi will undoubtedly strike again soon, and without Ignis, Link VRAINS will be losing more Data Material. Playmaker is also a problem. He may have saved Link VRAINS, but he is also a hacker that is a potential threat to the network as he has possession of Ignis."

 

"I see," Aoi said quietly. "I'm going to my room now."

 

Akira gave her a distracted nod and Aoi exited the dining room with a sigh. She beelined towards her bedroom, pushing down her heavy thoughts. Blue Angel had another duel in an hour, and she had to log on early. 

 

* * *

 

"Oh my! And with that, it's another win for Blue Angel!"

 

Blue Angel grinned and waved to the crowd, her blue eyes bright with happiness. The crowd ate it up, shouting her name in excitement and awe. She saw at least 10 males with literal hearts in their eyes, and winked at one of him, causing him to faint from the shock. 

 

"Alright, everyone! This live session in Link VRAINS is now over. We'll now be switching over to Go Onizuka's duel in the Europe Area, which will start in 10 minutes! Thank you!" 

 

With that, the crowd of duelists and spectators started to disappear, one by one, either logging off or transporting themselves to the area where Go would be dueling. Blue Angel hopped off the ledge she had dueled on (apparently SOL Technology still couldn't implement Speed Duels yet even after Playmaker's duel with the Knight of Hanoi) and decided to take a walk around the virtual world. She waved to fans that still lingered and accepted their many requests for autographs and photos, and after some time, she finally had some time alone. 

 

Blue Angel strolled along the sidewalk. The area she was dueling in had been modeled off nighttime Venice, Italy, and she was walking right next to one of the waterways. 4 duelists were holding a Tag Duel in the water, using gondolas to keep themselves afloat. 

 

And then she saw Playmaker, who was hidden away in the shadows of one of the buildings. Had her eyes not caught the flicker of movement he had made, she would have missed him entirely. He appeared to be conversing with someone or something on his Duel Disk. _Should I talk to him? I haven't exactly thanked him for saving me the other day..._

Making up her mind, Blue Angel walked over to Playmaker. He noticed her long before she arrived, and gave her a nod, his face expressionless. "Is there a reason you came to talk to me?" He inquired. 

 

"Uh...I never got an opportunity to thank you for saving me when that Knight of Hanoi attacked. So thank you," said Blue Angel.

 

"You're welcome."

 

_"Ho~ Look, it's Blue Angel!"_ A robotic voice spoke.

 

Blue Angel squeaked. "Where and what is that?"

 

"I thought I told you to keep quiet," Playmaker snapped, irritation flickering in his green eyes. 

 

_"But it's boring watching you two talk...by the way, can't you say something nicer like 'that was quite the nice duel you had' or something like that?"_

"You watched my duel?" Blue Angel asked, her cheeks flushing slightly, and she mentally slapped herself. _What am I doing?!_

"Yeah, I did," Playmaker said. "You use an interesting deck and are quite a good duelist yourself. The AI apparently thinks so as well."

 

_"I can tell when there's a good duelist!"_ The voice said indignantly, and Blue Angel finally realized that the voice was coming from Playmaker's Duel Disk. _"Can I set you two up in a Speed Duel?"_

"Shut up before I erase you."

 

_"If you erase me, you won't have your trump card against the Knights of Hanoi~ Hehehe!"_

"I don't need to erase you in order to modify your program so that you'd be stripped of your current sentience."

 

_"Ehh?!"_

Blue Angel started laughing, and Playmaker looked up. "What's so funny?"

 

"S-sorry, you just looked so funny arguing with your Duel Disk."

 

A faint smile tugged at Playmaker's lips. "Luckily it's not my actual Duel Disk or else I'd be considered crazy."

 

"So, what's his name?"

 

_"Ignis! I am the only--"_ The robotic voice got out before Playmaker clapped a gloved hand over his Duel Disk. 

 

"Sorry, but I know you have indirect links to SOL Technology, so any information regarding this guy is classified. Well, you already know his name, but that's all you'll know for now."

 

"What--how do you know I'm connected to SOL Technology?"

 

"They're the company that created Link VRAINS after all. Whoever gets recruited to be their representative, like you, would eventually be tangled up with them sooner or later. Sorry, Blue Angel. You seem nice, but I can't trust anyone."

 

"I see," Blue Angel said, her heart sinking. She had wanted to know more, but she knew Playmaker was correct. 

 

"I'm going to log off soon," Playmaker said. "Are you going to watch Go's duel as a fellow Charisma duelist?"

 

"No, I have to log off soon as well."

 

"Is that so? Well then, I'm logging off now."

 

_"Ehh? We're going now?"_

"The longer we stay here the larger chance we risk getting caught by either the Knights of Hanoi or SOL Technology. You're the one who wanted to come here anyways."

 

_"At least introduce yourself properly to Blue Angel. I don't think you did that when you saved her. And according to the laws of human etiquette, humans must make formal introductions if they are to continuously communicate in the future. Besides, even if you're a wanted hacker and she's connected with SOL Technology, you should-- ."_

"Your data on the laws of human etiquette are out of date, then," Playmaker interrupted flatly, but he turned to Blue Angel. "Well, I don't think I ever answered your initial question that day. My name is Playmaker. It's nice to make your acquaintance." He extended a gloved hand. 

 

"I'm Blue Angel, thanks again for saving me. Nice to meet you!" Blue Angel took his hand, which felt like ice. She gasped.

 

"Something wrong?" Playmaker asked curiously.

 

"Why is your hand so cold?! Even with the glove--!"

 

A slightly ironic smile played across Playmaker's lips. "I get that often. I don't know myself. Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll be logging off now." He turned away and pressed something on his Duel Disk, and his avatar dissolved into motes of blue light. 

 

Blue Angel stared at the spot where Playmaker had disappeared, a feeling of déjà vu settling in her.  _Didn't this already happen somewhere?_

Hands that were as cold as ice. 

 

Intense, serious and bright green eyes. 

 

_What is...this feeling of familiarity?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Blue Angel and Playmaker stuff in Chapter 2. They interact very little in real life, as Yusaku loves to sleep in class and stay near Kusanagi's hotdog stand. Also, I had to write Yusaku as a genius in class. Too bad it goes completely against his whole "I don't wanna stand out" personality.


	2. Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm late. I got really sick, and then episode 2 came out. I watched it and I realized how far I was already deviating from canon. Oh well, I'm not changing anything. The majority of this was written before episode 2, so I added some details here and there that relate to episode 2, but it's still completely different from canon. And just a heads-up: Blue Angel does get saved again, but I do NOT plan on making her a damsel-in-distress female MC. She is perfectly capable of holding her own, just like what episode 2 showed us *cough* the whip *cough*
> 
> Enjoy?

Over the next few weeks, the Knights of Hanoi launched more attacks in the Link VRAINS network. Playmaker had stopped most of them single-handedly through Speed Duels, the few exceptions being the ones where he had outside help from a fellow hacker of his. SOL Technology was still nowhere near able to track down Playmaker's movements, the experienced hacker able to erase his own data inside Link VRAINS. Everyday it seemed that there was more news on the Knights of Hanoi and Playmaker: rumours, images, speculations on duels, and more. 

 

Blue Angel hadn't seen Playmaker ever since that night in the Venice area. She continued to duel and play her role as the icon of the Link VRAINS world, but somewhere deep down, she wanted to meet Playmaker again. She wanted to figure out why he seemed so familiar, who he really was. 

 

Thanks to Ignis, Link VRAINS had slowly regained some of the Data Material originally lost, and SOL Technology had managed to replicate Speed Duels for the general public in Link VRAINS to use, as they were still used only by Playmaker in his duels with the Knights of Hanoi. The official release was set to be in a week, but as the icon of Link VRAINS, Blue Angel was given the instructions to showcase a Speed Duel as a demonstration. Go Onizuka had also been given the chance, but he had declined, claiming he was busy at that time in the real world. As a result, Blue Angel was chosen to play the demonstration Speed Duel. Her opponent: the powerful duelist known as Queen. 

 

Zaizen Aoi sighed as she clicked through the Link VRAINS newsfeed. Queen was a strong duelist with a troublesome deck, and to top it all off, her real-life identity was Tsukiyomi Misaki, the shallow popular girl at her school. She had managed to create a new character profile for herself, and had rebuilt her reputation as a fearsome duelist. However, she retained her arrogant and snobby attitude from real life, and her profile looked even more revealing than her old one--obviously to grab the attention of males. She also had a huge crush on Playmaker, and she wasn't afraid to tell the whole world--whether virtual or real.

 

Aoi quickly closed the window she was scrolling through as the school bell rang for the start of class. She stole a glance at Yusaku, who was sleeping yet again. She wondered how he would be staying awake today. They had a math test, and rumours were flying around that Mizuki-sensei had yet another fight with her boyfriend. Aoi expected her to be yelling in class again, despite the test. She shook herself out of her thoughts as Mizuki-sensei stormed into the room, an aura of anger radiating off her. 

 

"Class, you have a test today. I expect you all to finish. And no sleeping!" She raised her voice at the last sentence, causing Yusaku to slowly open his eyes. He raised his head, looking slightly annoyed at being woken up. Mizuki-sensei didn't care, however, and strode up and down the classrooms, passing out the tests. 

 

Aoi stole a glance at Yusaku. He was writing down answers with an emotionless face, green eyes bright but tired. She turned back to her own paper, and began to write down her own answers. Meanwhile, her mind was racing with strategies to defeat Queen. 

 

* * *

"Uwah, that was a hard test. I wonder how big the fight was this time."

 

"I swear she put in stuff that she didn't even teach us yet."

 

"I wish she'd stop taking out her anger on us."

 

"If anyone knows her boyfriend, can they tell him to stop fighting with her for our marks' sakes?"

 

All these comments were heard by Aoi as she took out her lunch, the test having taken up the entire morning. She preferred to eat at her desk alone, as the majority of the class left for the cafeteria. She did admit the test was hard, but she had answered all the questions. She silently thanked Akira for his advice when she had just started middle school. 

 

_Always study material teachers haven't taught yet ahead of time. You don't know when the teachers will give you trick questions based off material they haven't taught before. Your onii-san speaks from experience, so keep my words in mind, okay, Aoi?_

Those were some of the last words he had said to her before he became completely occupied with work and had started ignoring her. Aoi had taken the words to her heart and had always studied ahead, hence her ability to get high marks on tests. 

 

Aoi unpacked her bento, and took out her chopsticks. She ate slowly, taking small bites, scrolling through the Link VRAINS newsfeed with one hand while holding the chopsticks in the other. Above her, she could hear Shima talking to Yusaku again. She put her chopsticks down quietly, and turned to observe them. 

 

Shima was ranting on about dueling and Playmaker. Yusaku listened with an uninterested air about him, looking like he'd rather be somewhere else. When Shima had finally stopped talking to take a breath, Yusaku cut in. 

 

"Don't you need to go buy your lunch at the cafeteria? The line should be quite long now. And unless you have your own bento like me, you will be going without lunch today."

 

"Oh, crap!" Shima ran out the room. 

 

Now, only Yusaku and Aoi remained in the room, completely alone. Yusaku took out his own bento, and opened it, but he didn't bother eating, pushing the food around listlessly. 

 

Aoi sighed and went back to eating. She doubted he would respond to her even if she decided to talk to him. 

 

* * *

 

"Good evening, everyone! Today in Link VRAINS, we will be showcasing the new Speed Duel! Duelists will be surfing a Data Storm while dueling! Today, Blue Angel is dueling! Her opponent is the formidable Queen!"

 

Blue Angel smiled and waved to the crowd. Queen had her attention on the boys, where they were all staring at her and her revealing outfit. Blue Angel was able to count at least 10 nosebleeds, and she internally grimaced at the other girl's disgusting seduction tactics. 

 

"Data Storm, start!"

 

The purple wave began to flow, and Blue Angel and Queen leaped onto their Duel Boards. 

 

"Ready, set,"

 

"SPEED DUEL!"

 

* * *

_What's going on?_

Blue Angel was panicking. The duel had started off fine for her, but her Duel Board had begun malfunctioning, refusing to respond to her commands. The fact that she had never surfed before also added to her uneasiness. Speed Duels supposedly had autopilot for the Duel Boards, but hers wasn't working, so she was struggling to keep her balance while dueling at the same 

time, which was quite the task. 

"What's wrong?" Queen mocked as she surfed by. "Is the charismatic Blue Angel too scared to duel properly? It's your turn!"

 

"Shut up," Blue Angel responded with gritted teeth. "My turn, draw!" She nearly cried out as her board jerked, and quickly shifted her weight to stay on. Dimly, she heard the commentator speak.

 

"Oh my! Blue Angel appears to be having some trouble with her Duel Board! Will she be able to finish her turn without any complications?"

 

Blue Angel directed her monster to attack, grimacing as Queen activated a trap and forced an end to the Battle Phase. "I'll set one card and end my turn."

 

Queen smirked as she drew, and Blue Angel's board jerked again, nearly throwing her off. "I'll end your humiliation in this turn, Blue Angel. And then I'll take your place as the icon of Link VRAINS!" Queen activated a Magic Card and doubled her monster's attack, and directed it to attack Blue Angel's weaker monster. It destroyed her monster...

 

...and blasted Blue Angel off her board just as she was about to activate a Trap of her own. She cried out as she fell, her body spiraling down into the formless black space below the Data Storm. 

 

_Is this it? If I hit the bottom, my real body's going to die. No...not yet...Nii-san!_

She heard the screams of horror from the crowds, the shocked comments from the commentator.

 

And suddenly, cold hands caught her, and carried her upwards and away from the void. A gloved hand let go of her momentarily and touched her Duel Disk, activating the trap she had failed to activate. "Trap, activate," a familiar voice spoke. "When your monster is destroyed in battle, you can banish another monster in your graveyard from the game and negate any damage you would have received." Intense green eyes met her blue ones. "I assume this is the trap you meant to activate. I have removed one of your Normal Monsters from play."

 

"P-playmaker!" Blue Angel cried out in surprise. 

 

Playmaker shifted, and Blue Angel turned red as she realized he was carrying her bridal style. He was on a Duel Board of his own, and it was currently flying them back to the Data Storm far above them. "This duel wasn't fair from the start."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Queen. She's been hacking your Duel Board. All the jerking around and the malfunction of the autopilot was her doing. I'm surprised SOL Technology didn't notice it earlier." Playmaker's grip on her tightened as she shifted in horror. "Speed Duels are automatically set to have autopilots unless the duelist deactivates it himself. Queen took advantage of that fact and the weak security around the Duel Boards in order to disable you from playing on fair ground."

 

"No way..."

 

_"I caught her hacking,"_ Ignis' gleeful voice spoke from Playmaker's Duel Disk. _"She's quite the amateur, can't even cover up her own tracks."_

"Quiet, you," Playmaker ordered. "I told you not to speak."

 

_"So boringgg~"_ But Ignis didn't say anything else.

 

"Ignis will get Queen out of your Duel Board and strengthen the security once we get there," Playmaker said as he looked at Blue Angel. "Due to the trap I activated, the Battle Phase has been forced to end and Queen should end her turn soon. You should hurry up and finish the duel. Ignis and I will keep any more security breaches from happening since the Knights of Hanoi could take advantage of this to launch another attack."

 

"Not to sound ungrateful--I really am thankful that you saved me again--but why are you here in Link VRAINS? You haven't shown up in weeks."

 

"Your Speed Duel is the first Speed Duel that doesn't involve me or the Knights of Hanoi, and I was interested to see how this Speed Duel would work out."

 

"I see..."

 

_"Watch out!"_ Ignis cried. _"The Data Storm's becoming unstable! It's probably from the hacking!"_

And Ignis' words were true. A vortex swirled in the distance, the same colour as the Data Storm.

 

Playmaker's eyes flashed with unreadable emotions. "Queen's doing more damage than she thinks she is. This is going to be a rough ride, so hold on tight."

 

"I can fight on my own!"

 

"Not here you can't," Playmaker replied. "My Duel Board only has enough space for one person to stand on safely while moving, and I doubt you've ever tried surfing through an unstable Data Storm. If you're not careful, you might get killed."

 

"No..."

 

_"It's coming!"_ Ignis cried. 

 

"I don't need you to tell me that!" Playmaker directed his Duel Board to surf towards a side building as the vortex consumed and erased large buildings in mere seconds. "The original course is right up ahead. Ignis, when you're in range, get Queen out of Blue Angel's Duel Board and repair the security."

 

_"Why me?"_

"The offer to erase your sentience still stands," Playmaker said icily. Ignis grumbled unintelligibly.

"It's heading right for us!" Blue Angel exclaimed. 

 

"I see it," Playmaker replied as he changed his original course and headed in another direction. "I'm guessing you don't have a Skill that would work in this situation to deal with the Data Storm."

 

"No."

 

"Do you have anything that you could use to swing yourself up somewhere? Such as another building?"

 

"I have a whip..."

 

"Good." Playmaker's grip on her loosened, and he set her on her feet. He was still incredibly close due to the small structure of the Duel Board, and Blue Angel could feel his figure pressed against hers. His cold hands were on her shoulders. "Get onto that building. I'll take care of the Data Storm."

 

"But you just said...!"

 

"I survived one during my duel with the Knight of Hanoi."

 

"I guess I owe you again for saving my life, Playmaker." 

 

"You can pay me back by winning this duel against that disgraceful coward of a duelist. Go."

Blue Angel nodded and let her blue whip extend from her hand. She whipped it at a railing on a tall building, and it wrapped around the railing, stabilizing in seconds. She took a deep breath and allowed it to reel in, pulling her up and away from Playmaker's Duel Disk. Once she landed, she immediately started to look around for any sign of Playmaker or Queen. Queen's figure was surfing around the Data Storm a safe distance away, her monsters surrounding her like a protective shield. Even at that distance, Blue Angel could see the alarm and fear on her face. Playmaker, on the other hand, was surfing dangerously close to the vortex, a grimace on his face as winds buffeted him.

 

_I have to do something!_

_"Blue Angel!"_ Ignis' voice yelled, and Blue Angel saw her Duel Board, glowing in purple, flying towards her. _"Hop on! I've downloaded a part of myself into the board so the security's fine! Playmaker-sama wants you to finish the duel fast!"_

Blue Angel jumped onto her Duel Board, and it immediately surfed back to where Queen was. Ignis relayed a steady stream of information to her as she traveled back to the Data Storm. 

 

_"The vortex will disappear once the duel ends. It's your turn at the moment, so start as soon as you're within Queen's range. Don't worry about Playmaker, he'll be better off knowing you're dueling instead of you attempting to help him. The main part of my program is instructing him, so he'll be fine. I'll keep any security breaches from happening on your Duel Board, so trust us and win this duel."_

"Did Playmaker make you tell me this?"

 

_"Ehh? How did you know?!'_

A small smile appeared on Blue Angel's face. "You're normally more sarcastic." The smile fell off her face as she got closer to Queen, the other girl staring at her in shock (and was that a hint of anger?). "Queen! Let's finish this!"

 

"How..?!"

 

"My turn, draw!" She looked at her card, and smiled. "This will end it!" 

 

But before she could activate her magic card, she heard a yell of pain from behind her. She and Queen turned as one just as winds slammed Playmaker into a building.

 

"Playmaker!"

 

"Playmaker-sama!"

 

Playmaker surfed out as the building dissolved into blue particles, his face set in a grimace. He held his left arm tightly, and Blue Angel could see a ragged gash across his cheek. It didn't bleed, but she knew blood would be flowing when he returned to the real world. The vortex followed him. "Finish this!" He yelled, his voice tight with pain. He surfed away, the Data Storm gaining on him. 

 

"Magic card, activate!" 

 

Queen screamed as Blue Angel's monster slashed her monster to shreds, bringing her lifepoints to zero. And suddenly, everything quieted. 

 

The Data Storm and the surrounding buildings dissipated and reformed into a bright, colourful city. Blue Angel and Queen were deposited into a clearing. "It's over...?" Blue Angel could hear the astonished crowds and the stuttering from the commentator as he tried to form coherent words.  

 

"The winner of this duel is Blue Angel," a familiar voice said. Playmaker was leaning against a nearby building, supporting himself with his good arm. 

 

"Playmaker!"

 

"Playmaker-sama!"

 

Both girls began to make their way towards the injured hacker, but he held a hand up to stop them. He gave Blue Angel a quick glance of approval before he turned a glare at Queen, who faltered at the cold look on his face. "You didn't believe in your own skills as a duelist and play on fair game with your opponent. You decided to put Blue Angel's life in danger--her virtual and her real one--in danger because of some petty competition about being the icon of Link Vrains. Because of your amateur hacking skills, you nearly killed her and almost caused Link VRAINS to collapse. You have no right to call yourself a duelist." He disappeared into blue light, transporting himself back into the real world.

 

Queen fell to her knees, disbelief on her face and tears beginning to fall from her eyes. Blue Angel turned away and logged off.

 

* * *

 

The next day at school, Aoi wasn't surprised to see an empty seat where Misaki was. Rumours were flying around that she had been taken into custody by SOL Technologies due to the incident between Queen and Blue Angel. 

 

"I can't believe Misaki-sama would go that far..." That was one of her former lackeys.

 

"Man, I knew she was evil, but to target Blue Angel and nearly kill her? That's beyond psychotic!" Shima.

 

"At least Playmaker saved her. Did you see that save?"

 

"I heard she's getting expelled..."

 

"Forget Tsukiyomi-san and Playmaker, where's Fujiki?"

 

Aoi looked up as the class representative, Takashi, spoke, silencing the rest of the students. He adjusted his glasses and repeated his question.

 

"Fujiki? Isn't he right...." Shima trailed off as he saw Yusaku's empty seat. "There?" 

 

"Strange. He usually shows up earlier."

 

As if on cue, Yusaku quietly walked into the room, where everyone stared at him. 

 

Yusaku's left arm was wrapped up in a sling and bandages covered his cheek. He looked more exhausted than usual, beelining towards his seat and immediately resting his head to sleep and ignoring the stares of his classmates. The class was shocked into silence.

 

_What happened to Yusaku?_

Meanwhile, Aoi was gaping internally. _How...where did he get those injuries? They look similar to...no...he can't be..._

Yusaku's injuries looked almost exactly like the injuries Playmaker had sustained the day before during Blue Angel's duel with Queen. 

 

* * *

 

"Alright, everyone, it's time for PE..." The gym teacher trailed off as he saw Yusaku. "Fujiki! What happened to you?"

 

Yusaku walked up to the teacher and whispered something, and the teacher nodded. "You're excused from this class until you heal up. I'll let you go to the library to study. The rest of you, hurry up and change! I want everyone to run 10 laps as warmup!"

 

Everyone groaned but made their way into the separate changing rooms. 

 

Aoi, however, ran to catch up to Yusaku. "Fujiki-san!"

 

"Zaizen-san?" Yusaku tilted his head towards her. 

 

"Where did you get those injuries?"

 

"I got attacked by a gang last night." Yusaku shrugged with his good arm. "Luckily someone came along and reported what happened before they did anything worse."

 

"I...see. Hope you heal up soon."

 

"Thanks." Yusaku turned away and continued on his way to the library, while Aoi slowly made her way back to the changing room, confusion clouding her mind. 

 

_No way...he couldn't be...right?_

Her phone vibrated and she took it out, blinking at the message. It was from her brother.

 

**_Aoi, I know this is sudden, but SOL Technologies has to track down Playmaker and fast. I want you to find out who Playmaker is in real life using your Blue Angel persona in Link VRAINS the next few times you log in there. I'm counting on you._ **

****

**_Akira_ **

__

_Nii-san....are you finally acknowledging me?_ Aoi's heart soared with joy.

Little did she know that she would be tangled up in schemes beyond comprehension. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for the last chapter: speculations that are completely different than what the VRAINS fandom is discussing.
> 
> Has anyone noticed any references from a certain previous YuGiOh series? Whoever sees it gets a sneak peek of chapter 3! (Well, everyone's going to see it because I have no idea if there's a private message function on AO3, but whatever.)


	3. End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame real life, episode 7, and my hyperactive mind for this late chapter. This chapter does have some elements from chapter 3, and the rest are my own speculations and headcanon for Yugioh Vrains. I actually considered splitting this chapter, but I wanted to stay in the spirit of the number 3 (Yusaku's favourite number lols), so yeah.
> 
> Enjoy this last chapter! 
> 
> Note: Kyouji is based off Yagumo Kyouji in the Zexal manga only in terms of appearance. The rest of his character belongs to me (and I am actually in love with him right now someone please get me back to normal.

 

_Where...am I?_

"Ho~ Looks like the little angel woke up." 

 

_Why...is it so dark? I can't...see a thing._

"You might wanna stay still. I'm sure you have a huge headache right now, sorry about that."

 

_Yeah...why does my head hurt?_

"Well, it was my job, so I don't really regret it, but still, how did a cute girl like you end up tangled with us anyways?"

 

_What...? Tangled up with who?_

"Well, you have links with the people we wanna negotiate with, so I guess you would've been tangled up with us sooner or later."

 

_Who...?_

"Can you even hear me? Oh boy, I'm going crazy, talking to myself. Well, you can't see me at all, so I'm not surprised that you're keeping quiet."

 

_Why...?_

"If you're listening, do you at least remember who I am? Hey...can you feel this then?"

 

_...your hands are so cold...just like his...don't...touch me...with these hands..._

"I'm Kyouji, remember? Too bad you lost to me, or else you wouldn't have been in this situation. Well, I think Revolver-sama would've kidnapped you anyways even if I lost to you. Anyways, I think you should go back to sleep now. No point in staying awake, you get what I mean?"

 

_No...someone...help...me...._

* * *

_Earlier that day_

"What are you doing here?" Yusaku asked guardedly. He leaned against the hotdog truck, munching on a hot dog that the vendor had just given him. 

 

"I can't be here?" Aoi asked. She turned to the hotdog vendor. "I'll be ordering one hotdog, please." 

 

"Sure thing, ojou-san. Are you Yusaku's classmate? You're wearing the same uniform."

 

"Oh! Um, yes."

 

"Then it's on me. Yusaku, you really should be nicer to your classmates." The hotdog vendor gave Aoi a quick grin. "Call me Kusanagi. I'm a family friend of Yusaku's. Don't mind him, he's still quite grouchy over his arm."

 

"Thanks...?" Aoi turned to Yusaku. "I was just in the area. How's your arm?" Of course, she wasn't going to admit that she had been following Yusaku. She had been feeling some kind of déjà vu every time she went near him, and she was determined to find out why. She didn't expect the hotdog stand, though.

 

"Better," Yusaku muttered. "I'm _not_ looking forward to going back to PE." His injured arm remained in a sling, while a faint scar marred his cheek.

 

Aoi laughed. "Tenjouin-sensei's been giving us more drills."

 

A displeased expression crossed Yusaku's face, but he said nothing.

 

"Here you go, ojou-san." Kusanagi handed Aoi her hotdog. "What's your name, by the way?"

 

"Zaizen Aoi." Aoi took a bite out of her hotdog. Surprisingly, it was quite good. She made a mental note to come back once in a while for the hotdogs.

 

"Oh, it's you! Yusaku told me a couple weeks ago that you literally ran into him after school."

 

Aoi turned red. "It was an accident." 

 

Kusanagi laughed. "I understand, happens all the time. Although, I haven't seen you around in this area until now. What made you come here?"

 

Aoi smiled uneasily, and said nothing. She didn't notice the momentary flash of suspicion cross Kusanagi's eyes before they turned friendly again.

 

"Personal reasons? I get it, I get it, sorry for intruding."

 

"No, it's alright, but I'd rather not say." Truth to be told, Aoi liked Kusanagi's friendly attitude, but she didn't want to expose anything about herself to him or Yusaku.

 

Yusaku threw his wrapper into the nearby trash can. "Huh, it's already 6:20? Time passes fast."

 

"6:20?!"

 

"Yeah, something wrong?" 

 

"I, uh, have something to do. Bye, Fujiki-san, Kusanagi-san!" Aoi quickly finished her hotdog and ran off.

 

Her mind flashed back to the conversation Blue Angel had had with Playmaker just a few days ago.

 

_"You want me to help you with Speed Duels?" Playmaker asked incredulously as he leaned against the bricked-up wall of an alley. His injured arm was stiff against his side, his scraped cheek showing signs of healing. His green eyes watched Blue Angel intently. She had noticed him after her last duel (it was a regular duel, no Duel Boards involved) had finished (with her victory) watching her, and she had quickly forgone all scheduled interviews to talk to him._

_"Please, I'm begging you!" Blue Angel said. "I don't want another incident like the one with Queen happening again."_

_"It won't," Playmaker assured her._

_"Still, I don't want to Speed Duel with the autopilot on."_

_"Is this about your reputation as the icon for Link VRAINS?"_

_Blue Angel looked embarrassed and didn't reply._

"Oh, just help her out. Not like anything bad's going to result from it," _Ignis piped up from Playmaker's Duel Disk._

_"I don't remember letting you speak," Playmaker retorted. "But fine, I'll help you out."_

_"Really?"_

_"There are 3 pros to this. First, you probably will not be facing any more trouble with Speed Duels. Second, Link VRAINS will be regaining more Data Material from this, which will benefit the network. Third, Ignis will stop annoying me from not Speed Dueling more often."_

_"Um..."_

_"However, there are also 3 cons. First, Ignis and I will be at a higher risk of getting caught by SOL Technology or the Knights of Hanoi. Second, your fanbase will blow up after you're seen with me, and you will most likely be undergoing many interviews with the media, who will be desperate for information on me. Third, my arm hasn't fully healed yet, so I doubt my current abilities as a teacher."_

_Blue Angel was at a loss for words.  Playmaker looked at her and a bit of sympathy crossed his green eyes. "I understand your current situation, though. I'll still help you out."_

_"Really? Thank you so much!"_

_"However, I still need some time for my arm to fully heal. Are you fine with meeting here one week from now at 6:45 PM?"_

_"Hm..." Blue Angel brought up her schedule with a flick of her wrist. "I don't have anything scheduled at that time."_

_"Then it's settled. See you then." Playmaker tapped his Duel Disk and dissolved into blue particles._

_He didn't see the guilt on Blue Angel's face as she turned away. Her real intent on getting him to meet up with her was for SOL Technology to capture him after he finished teaching her._

A sense of guilt wormed it's way into Aoi's heart as she ran. She didn't notice Yusaku hurriedly whispering to Kusanagi, nor did she see him enter the hotdog truck while ripping off the sling on his arm.

 

* * *

 

"Alright, let's start off with working on your footing," Playmaker instructed. "Ignis isn't starting a Data Storm until we're both sure your footwork and balance are correct." The two of them were standing on their Duel Boards on a grassy area. It wad a fairly remote area in Link VRAINS, with no other players nearby. "First off, your knees should be bent slightly the entire time. Your dominant foot should be in front and centered, and your other foot should be placed behind you far enough so that the distance is slightly larger than your shoulder width."

 

"I don't think you followed all these rules when you were dueling," Blue Angel muttered as she adjusted her feet. 

 

"Well, it happened quite fast in my first duel with the Knight of Hanoi, so I didn't have time to follow all the proper rules. Besides, once you improve, you can probably break the rules a little bit." Playmaker eyed her position on the board critically. "You're not transferring most of your weight to your front foot."

 

"Oh, sorry." Blue Angel corrected her footing, and Playmaker nodded in approval. 

 

"It can be difficult to get into this stable position when you're jumping onto a Data Storm, but if you attempt to remain in a semblance of this form, you should be fine."

 

"Got it."

 

"Alright, now step off the board. Get into the same position again. I won't be instructing you this time."

 

"Okay..." 

 

"Huh, I forgot about your upper body. Do you mind?" Playmaker approached her and placed his hands on Blue Angel's shoulders, adjusting them slightly. Blue Angel had to fight off a rising heat to her cheeks. 

 

She turned over her shoulder to glance at the male. "Your hands are still so cold." 

 

"Nothing I can do about it." Playmaker carefully stepped back, and examined Blue Angel's stance.

 

_"Looks good!"_ Ignis piped up. 

 

"Oh yeah, I never asked; how's your arm?"

 

"It's pretty much healed, thanks for asking. Shift your left foot slightly to the right. Good, now bring your Duel Disk up to its regular position. Alright, you're good. If you ever feel like you're losing balance, just lean forward and keep your weight on your dominant foot. In the worst-case scenarios, turn the autopilot back on. Ready for the real thing?"

 

"That fast?!"

 

Playmaker tilted his head. "Your stance is good. All that's left is to handle real Speed Duels. Ignis, start the Data Storm."

 

_"Okay, okay."_ The surroundings around the two duelists shifted until they were standing in the ruins of a city, abandoned buildings everywhere. Playmaker and Blue Angel were standing on the rooftop of a tall building, watching as streams of bluish purple flowed on continuously. 

 

Two familiar Duel Boards came flying towards them, and Blue Angel braced herself. 

 

"3, 2, 1, jump!" Playmaker called as he leapt onto his Duel Board. 

 

Blue Angel jumped onto her Duel Board, wobbling as the board jerked under her weight. "Kyaa!'

 

"Calm down!" Playmaker admonished, grabbing onto her shoulders to steady her. "Spread your feet apart like I showed you. Panicking will make it harder to recover from losing your balance."

 

"Sorry," Blue Angel muttered. 

 

Playmaker let go of her. "Good job; you're doing quite well. 

 

_"Great job; you're doing better than Playmaker-sama than when he first Speed Dueled."_

Blue Angel giggled as Playmaker scowled at Ignis. He turned back to her after a few seconds, a neutral expression back on his face. "Do you want a practice duel against me to get used to Speed Dueling?"

 

"No, I think I should just be getting used to surfing."

 

"As you wish. Anything else you want to know about Speed Dueling?"

 

"Hm...not right now."

 

"If you want to speed up or slow down, just tap the front or the back of the board." With that, Playmaker tapped the front of his board with his foot and sped off into the Data Storm. 

 

"Ah! Wait for me!" Blue Angel tapped the front of her board, gasping as the board jerked forward before gliding smoothly through the Data Storm.  

 

A beep alerted her to check her watch, and her face fell. _5 more minutes...until SOL Technology comes. I'm sorry, Playmaker._ The plan was simple. All Blue Angel had to do was get Playmaker alone for some time, while SOL Technology tracked her exact position so they could capture Playmaker's avatar and pin down his real life location where they would take him and Ignis into custody. So what was this guilt that was eating at her? The uneasy feeling in her gut? 

 

She didn't notice Playmaker tilting his head to glance at her guilty expression, an unreadable look on his face. 

 

And then, the expressions on both their faces turned into ones of horror, while Ignis cried out in surprise. 

 

"The Knights of Hanoi!" Playmaker spat as he surfed back towards Blue Angel. 

 

A whole group of the Knights of Hanoi were surfing towards them, dressed in the familiar cloak and grey mask. Their leader was dressed differently, though, with no mask or hood covering his features. He had spiked light blue hair with a tuft of hair falling over his bright blue eyes. His skin was pale, and he had a sadistic grin on his boyish face. "Found you~" he said in a gleeful voice. "Playmaker and Blue Angel in the same place at once, must be my lucky day."

 

"Who are you?!" Playmaker yelled. 

 

The leader, who couldn't have been older than Playmaker, grinned even wider. "My name's Kyouji. Revolver-sama sent me to capture you two and Ignis. So, which one of you wants to duel me? Ooh, I know, I'll duel the cute angel!" He winked at Blue Angel. "The rest of you, take care of the SOL agents that are hiding in the area. Sorry ojou-sama, but  _we're_ capturing Playmaker, not your lackeys."

 

Playmaker looked at Blue Angel blankly, while guilt took over her features. He turned to Kyouji. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak like as if I wasn't here," he said in a cool tone. "Do you really think you can defeat me?"

 

Kyouji tilted his head, feigning deep thought. "Noooo~ But Revolver-sama figured out your deck. That's why he sent two special soldiers--" He snapped his fingers, and two Knights of Hanoi dressed in black cloaks moved forward. "--to capture you. I already decided I'm going to duel Blue Angel. The rest of you, hurry up and take care of the SOL agents!"

 

"Understood!"

 

Playmaker cursed, bracing himself. Blue Angel remained still, guilt freezing her to her spot. 

 

_I can hear them...Nii-san's men as they're erased by the Knights of Hanoi._

A cold hand touched her shoulder, and she looked up to see intense green eyes boring into her, any warmness from before extinguished by the cold green flames that were irises. "Remember what I taught you. Defeat the Knights of Hanoi and you'll be safe. We'll talk about SOL Technology later. As of now, we have a common enemy to defeat." Playmaker turned away and sped far away into the Data Storm, the two black-cloaked Knights hot on his trail.

 

_He's right. I need to focus on defeating them right now._

Blue Angel let her whip form and whipped it at two approaching Knights of Hanoi who were about to grab her, knocking them from their Duel Boards. They screamed as they fell into the void, and her heart skipped with panic.  _Oh gods I killed them I'm murdering people in Link VRAINS--_

A slow clap of hands alerted her back to Kyouji. "Uwah, impressive. You're stronger than I thought you are. Don't worry about them, they have an auto-teleporter once they get knocked out of the Data Storm. You're dueling me now, little angel, so prepare yourself!" His blue eyes gleamed with sadistic glee and predatory instinct, and Blue Angel realized to her horror that his dark pupils were slitted like a reptile's, looking completely inhuman. He raised his right arm and his Duel Disk activated. "Let's do this. If you win, I'll stop the attack on Link VRAINS. If I win, I get to take you as a hostage to Revolver-sama."

 

"Fine by me!"

 

"SPEED DUEL!"

 

* * *

 

_No....I can't lose here._ She no more monsters on the field, and her field was wide open. Kyouji, on the other hand, had a monster with attack points that far surpassed her lifepoints, and it was his turn. 

 

"My turn, draw!" Kyouji grinned. "You fought quite well and lasted longer than I thought you would. Good job, you're quite strong. Here's my reward to you. Direct attack!" Kyouji's monster swung its large sword, aiming for her head. Blue Angel's scream was cut short as the impact knocked her from her Duel Board into the void. 

 

Just before she fell unconscious, she felt someone catch her. _Who...?_ She sank into darkness. 

 

* * *

 

"Oh, you're awake again! Just so you know, you're still in the virtual world."

 

Blue Angel opened her eyes slowly to see Kyouji sitting in front of her, a grin on his face. She tried to move, but found herself bound to another chair, her hands tied around her back. She was gagged as well. She glared at Kyouji, and he laughed.

 

"Sorry, sorry, orders are orders. I can't and won't untie you. But I think Revolver-sama won't mind if I remove the gag. Hold still and please don't bite me; I like my hands to be intact." Kyouji stood up and calmly approached her, carefully untying the gag and tossing it to the ground. "Alright, you can speak now."

 

"Why are you doing this?" Blue Angel asked.

 

"Huh? Doing what?"

 

"Going after Playmaker, kidnapping me..."

 

"Classified~ Well, we kidnapped you since you're the Link VRAINS icon and have a relation to the person we want to negotiate with...right, Zaizen Aoi-chan?"

 

"W-who's that?"

 

"Don't lie to me, ojou-sama. We know that Blue Angel and Zaizen Aoi are the same person through and through, thanks to our own hackers. We're going to be negotiating with your brother."

 

"W-what for?" Blue Angel stuttered out, shocked that Kyouji knew her true identity. 

 

"Hm...you'll see~"

 

"I think you've said enough, Kyouji-kun." A man with spiked up dark hair and a mask appeared, a displeased expression on his face. HIs eyes were blank and completely yellow, to Blue Angel's horror. "She doesn't need to know that much."

 

"Oops, sorry, Revolver-sama. Should I put the gag back on?"

 

"No. Keep guard on her until further instructions."

 

_So this is the leader of the Knights of Hanoi?_

"Understood, Revolver-sama!"

 

Revolver turned to Blue Angel. "I suggest you keep your mouth shut unless I tell you that you can speak. Otherwise, I can't promise that you'll live through this."

 

Blue Angel nodded mutely.

 

Revolver turned back to Kyouji. "Where's your brother?"

 

"Don't know. Spectre-nii-sama's been gone a lot these days."

 

"Hmph. We'll start negotiations without him, then. Start the video call with Zaizen Akira."

 

"Haiii~" Kyouji brought up a keyboard on his Duel Disk and began typing rapidly as he hacked into SOL Technology's network. "Connecting directly with Zaizen Akira's computer...got it!"

 

A large screen popped up and Akira's surprised face filled the screen. The surprise quickly turned into anger once he saw the people on the other side. _"Who are you? Hacking into SOL Technology is a serious offense!"_

"Now, now, I don't think you're in any condition to be telling us Knights of Hanoi what to do, Zaizen-san. Unless you care that little about your sister." Kyouji stepped aside so Akira could see Blue Angel bound to the chair. 

 

Akira's eyes filled with horror. _"Aoi!"_ He was distraught enough to forget that she was in her Blue Angel persona, crying out her name. _"Let my sister go!"_

 

"Not until you hear our negotiations, Zaizen-san." Revolver stepped into the screen, and Kyouji quickly backed away until he was beside Blue Angel. "I know you're developing a new AI program to access the Cyberse World. I wish to exchange your sister for that AI program."

_"Fool! Don't you know the importance of the Cyberse World?!"_

 

"I know full well. That's why I know your sister is also valuable enough to you as an equal trade. She is currently unable to log out on her own and we have her real body confined in one of out buildings. Give me the AI program and she'll be able to log out and escape."

 

Akira gritted his teeth, but kept silent. 

 

"Need a little incentive, Zaizen-san?" Kyouji pulled out a knife from a sheath and pressed it to Blue Angel's throat, the cold metal biting into her skin. "She'll be seriously injured in the real world if my hands slip, oh, I don't know, by accident if you don't reply."

_"Get away from my sister!"_

 

"Agree to our terms, then."

 

"I--"

 

"That won't be necessary," a new voice interrupted. 

 

Kyouji barely had time to jump away before an explosion occurred right behind him. A smoking hole appeared in the wall, and Playmaker's figure stood in the rubble. 

 

"Playmaker!" Akira and Revolver said in unison (for the first and last time). 

 

The hacker walked into the room, his eyes observing the scene around him. Green eyes met with yellow ones, and they widened. "You're Revolver!"

 

_"Ah! You're the one that destroyed my body!"_ Ignis yelled.

 

"Shut up and let me talk," Playmaker snapped. "Why do you want to destroy the Cyberse World, Revolver?"

 

"Why do you oppose us, Playmaker?" Revolver countered.

 

"You threaten the safety of Link VRAINS and are pulling too many innocent people into your schemes!"

 

"Innocent? No one is innocent in this world, Playmaker. Not one."

 

Playmaker flinched as if those words had struck him an actual blow. 

 

Revolver noticed, and turned away from Playmaker. "If you understood my true intentions for wanting to destroy the Cyberse World, I have a feeling you'd side with me, Playmaker. Maybe if you saw my true face, you'd reconsider going against me." Revolver slowly turned back around, removing his mask as he did so.

 

Blue Angel watched as Playmaker's composure dissolved and a horrified expression on his face appeared as his green eyes met Revolver's regular golden human eyes. "No...you can't be..."

 

"I am," Revolver said. "You haven't forgotten me, have you? You knew it was me when I said those words. I know who are are as well. It's been a while, Yusaku-kun. I knew it was you the moment I saw you when you were looking through Ignis' program."

 

"No...this is a lie...why? Why are you..."

 

"Doing all this? Circumstances change."

 

_So Fujiki-san was Playmaker all along?_

 

"Shuichi-san...why? Do you know how long your brother looked for you?!"

 

A faint smile appeared on Revolver's lips. "Shoichi-nii probably looked for a long time, Yusaku-kun. He's always been like that."

 

"So why? Why do all this?"

 

_"Yes, what does my sister have to do with this?"_ Akira yelled from the screen. _"Let her go!"_

"Your sister?" Playmaker glanced at Blue Angel, who was still staring at him in shock. "Zaizen-san is your sister...oh, I understand now."

 

"W-when did you figure it out?" Blue Angel asked in a surprised tone.

 

"A long time ago. Now answer me, Shuichi-san!"

 

Revolver flicked his wrist and muted Akira's shouts. "My father was the one who created the Cyberse World. It was a prototype world in the virtual network to create more sentient AIs, like Ignis. But, when he had finished his research...SOL Technologies stole it and trapped his mind in Link VRAINS so that he would be unable to share it with any other company. SOL Technologies was a small company back then...about to collapse and unable to compete with large companies such as Kaiba Corporation or Industrial Illusions. When they stole the technology and implemented it for their own use, they gained instant recognition and money, and they used it to destroy the older, more powerful companies. With the Cyberse World and the Solid Vision stolen from Kaiba Corporation, the world of Link VRAINS was created, which helped SOL Technologies rise to the top. As for my father, he was trapped in a space deep inside Link VRAINS, where no one has accessed. Destroying the Cyberse World will free my father and bring him back to the real world. Father is dying right now in the real world. Unless I bring him back now, he dies." Revolver unmuted the screen, but Akira was shocked into silence.

 

"Then why? Why didn't you tell Kusanagi-san?"

 

"I thought he was dead after that accident. Both of you thought I was dead or kidnapped, didn't you? Your parents were killed, my mother was killed...and we were separated. I had no idea you two were alive until now, but I knew if Shoichi-nii was alive, he'd be searching for me. After that accident, Dr. Kogami found me and led me to where my father's comatose body was. And that day, I swore to destroy the Cyberse World and SOL Technologies with it."

 

"You don't have to do it this way! Come back to Kusanagi-san and we'll work things out! We can search for your father together!"

 

"I'm sorry, Yusaku-kun. I've already gone too far into the darkness."

 

"I don't believe that! I swore to your brother that I'd save you from the darkness!"

 

"It's too late, Yusaku-kun. Give me Ignis and I'll release Blue Angel. I won't launch any more attacks on Link VRAINS if you do so."

 

"I...I..."

 

"Please, Yusaku-kun. This is the only hope I have left to save Father."

 

"..."

 

"You're leaving me with no choice." Revolver snapped his fingers. 

 

Nothing happened. 

 

Revolver frowned, and brought up a screen, typing something in. He swore when a red warning sign appeared. "What's going on?"

 

"I apologize, Revolver-sama, but the Knights of Hanoi are under _my_ control now." Spectre appeared, and around him, at least 30 other Knights of Hanoi appeared as well.

 

"What is this?" Revolver said in an angry voice. "You dare betray me, Spectre?!"

 

"I apologize, Revolver-sama, but I believe you are no longer fit to lead the Knights of Hanoi. Many of us are dissatisfied with how you lead us. As such, I have decided to take over as the leader. You will die here with Playmaker and the others." He pulled out a gun, aiming it at his former leader. "I prefer to do things the old way. You cannot duel me to get out of this predicament."

 

_"Let my sister go first!"_

"My demands are to give me full control over Link VRAINS. We will destroy the Cyberse World for our own reasons. I'll release her after that." 

 

"You still won't be able to find the Cyberse World even with full control over Link VRAINS! You should already know that!"

 

"You're getting annoying. Disappear." Spectre pulled the trigger with a bang. 

 

Blue Angel screamed while Playmaker gasped in horror. Revolver lost his composure and stared at his former right hand man in shock. 

 

Kyouji staggered back and collapsed against Blue Angel's chair, blood spreading onto his clothing from a hole in his chest. He spat out red, his eyes wide with disbelief. "N-nii-sama..." he choked out, before slumping.

 

"Why would you kill your own brother?!" Blue Angel yelled.

 

"I never thought of him as a brother. Now, Zaizen Akira, give me control over Link VRAINS or else your sister is the next one to die." Spectre pointed the gun at Blue Angel. 

 

_"NO!"_

 

"SPECTRE!" Revolver lunged at his right hand man, and the two went down fighting. 

 

Meanwhile, Playmaker was surrounded by the Knights of Hanoi. He brandished his Duel Disk and Ignis rose out in a terrifying form, consuming the Knights of Hanoi. They screamed as they were consumed by the AI.

 

Blue Angel watched in horror as the room descended into chaos. _I can't do anything. Why am I so useless?_

She felt her bonds slacken, and she looked as Kyouji slashed the ropes with trembling hands. Blood pooled underneath him and leaked from his mouth. "Kyouji..."

 

"Go...and help...Revolver-sama......and.....Playmaker...

 

"Why are you doing this?"

 

"It's...the right thing..." Kyouji slashed through the final rope and dropped the knife with a clatter. "You're really strong...go..." He collapsed onto the ground.

 

"Thank you," Blue Angel whispered. She stood up and let her blue whip form. She whipped it at three Knights of Hanoi sneaking up on Playmaker from behind, knocking them backwards and right into the direction of Ignis' towering form.

 

Playmaker nodded a thanks at her. He directed Ignis at another group of Knights, and slowly walked backwards until he was beside Blue Angel. "None of us will last long against Spectre or the Knights of Hanoi. Shuichi-san isn't dumb; he knows when he's fighting a losing battle and I can tell Spectre is going to overpower him eventually."

 

"What are we going to do then?" Blue Angel sent another group of Knights into a tangled heap, where they were quickly eaten by Ignis. 

 

"I don't know." Playmaker sounded unsure. "This is the first time I've been driven into a corner like this." He pivoted on one foot and flung a card at a Knight of Hanoi, the card's sharp edges embedding into his skin. The Knight screamed in pain and staggered back. Playmaker flung 3 more cards at some other Knights and they retreated, out of Ignis' range. "If I get you out of Link VRAINS, will you be able to contact your brother and alert him to your location? At the very least, you should get out of here."

 

"How can I just leave you here?!"

 

"You seemed fine with that with your terrible attempt to capture me for SOL Technology," Playmaker replied coldly as he flung a card and sliced a Knight's arm open. 

 

Blue Angel said nothing, guilt taking over her features again. Playmaker sighed when he saw it. "Okay, I'll admit that was low. However, we don't have any other ways to escape. I have a feeling Spectre will be destroying this place along with us if Shuichi-san beats him in the fight anyways."

 

Just then, the two heard a male's scream of pain and turned as one to see Revolver stagger back with a hole in his shoulder. Spectre stood in front of him with the gun still smoking, fresh scratches and bruises forming on his face. "I win, Revolver-sama."

 

"Shuichi-san!"

 

"No you don't, _nii-sama._ " 

 

A knife flew and stabbed Spectre through his gun arm, causing him to drop the gun with a cry of pain. Revolver quickly grabbed the gun and pinned Spectre down to the ground, holding the gun to his head. "Give it up. You've lost."

 

"Heh...so Kyouji was still alive..."

 

"You forgot my real body was in a specialized underground hospital ward," Kyouji said as he limped to his brother, a hand still clutching his chest. "I think this fight is over." Revolver handed him the gun and Kyouji pressed it to his brother's temple. "Revolver-sama, your orders?"

 

"Step down!" Revolver said loudly, causing the other Knights of Hanoi to stop. "Your leader is captured and his life is in my hands. Leave before I kill the rest of you for betraying me."

 

The Knights obediently disappeared, and Revolver turned to the screen, where Akira was watching them, mouth slightly open in shock. "Zaizen Akira!'

 

_"What do you want?!"_

"I'll let your sister go. In exchange, none of this is leaked to the public."

 

_"Do you really think you're in any position to be making demands?"_

"We are," Playmaker said as he walked over to Revolver. "If you don't, I will hand Ignis over to Shuichi-san and join his side."

 

_"Why don't I get a choice in this?!"_

 

Akira gritted his teeth, but finally spoke. _"Fine. Let my sister go and I'll make sure none of this is leaked to the public."_

"See, now that wasn't hard," Kyouji said. Keeping the gun aimed at Spectre, he brought up a screen and tapped something, and a blue aura rose off Blue Angel and shattered. "You can log out now, ojou-sama. Sorry I had to do all that to you."

 

Blue Angel looked at Playmaker, who nodded and waved for her to go. 

 

She disappeared into blue particles. 

 

Zaizen Aoi found herself on a strange bed in an unfamiliar room. She sat up slowly, and winced as pain lanced through her head. "Ow...."

 

She fell back onto the bed, unconscious.

 

* * *

When she came to, she had the distinct feeling of being carried.

 

She opened one eye and saw blue and pink hair. She opened the other eye and found her arms around someone's shoulders and her body draped over another body. Cold hands supported her legs. She squeaked, and the other person's head turned. Green eyes met with brown ones.

 

"Fujiki-san?!"

 

"Oh, you woke up." Yusaku continued walking. "I'm taking you back to your house. You wouldn't wake up when I found you at Shuichi-san's place, so I searched for your address and decided to get you back home. It's 2:17 AM."

 

"So...it's really true...you're..."

 

"Playmaker? I'd deny it, but I know who you are as well, so I'm in no position to deny it. Yes, I'm Playmaker. And you're Blue Angel."

 

"When did you figure it out?" Aoi asked.

 

"Since the duel with Queen. I had my suspicions during the first attack from the Knight of Hanoi, though."

 

"How did you know?!"

 

"Three reasons. First, your voice remained the same. Second, your mannerisms and personality. You may have been able to change most of your personality as Blue Angel, but some of your mannerisms are the some in the real world. Third...I'd rather not say it, but your body shape was the same." Yusaku was definitely blushing, and Aoi's face was red as well.

 

"You didn't have to mention it."

 

"It's a valid reason."

 

"So, what happened with Revolver and Kyouji?"

 

"Promise that you don't tell your brother."

 

"I can't promise that...."

 

"Then I'm not telling you. The most I'll tell you is that Kyouji is alive and recuperating in the real world. Shuichi-san handed Spectre over to your brother upon the condition that SOL Technologies does not arrest him."

 

"What about you?"

 

"Your brother hasn't found out who Playmaker is--but he'll find out eventually. I'd rather not get arrested, so if needed, you'll be a bargaining chip again for my freedom."

 

"Fine. How's Ignis?"

 

"Not telling." Yusaku stopped in front of Aoi's home. "Can you stand?"

 

"Yeah, I think so."

 

Yusaku let her go, and Aoi landed on the ground lightly. Before she could open the door, it opened to reveal a worried-looking Akira, whose expression transformed into one of relief when he saw her. "Aoi! You're alright!" He stepped forward and hugged her tightly. "Thank goodness..."

 

"Nii-san..." Aoi hugged her brother back, before remembering Yusaku was still there. She pulled away. "Nii-san, this is my classmate, Fujiki Yusaku. He helped me get back home."

 

Akira's eyes widened slightly when they landed on Yusaku. "You're Playmaker, aren't you?"

 

"Yes, I am."

 

"I should be taking you into custody as well."

 

"Nii-san!"

 

"But...it's too late, and I owe you for rescuing my sister even though I used her to attempt to capture you and Ignis. I'll let you go. Thank you for bringing her back safely."

 

"You're welcome." Yusaku turned to leave, before he turned back to Aoi. "When did you develop suspicions that I was Playmaker? I know you weren't at the hotdog stand by chance."

 

"Three reasons. First, your hands were and are still really cold. Second, your eyes were the same intense green. Third...well, your injuries matched the ones during my duel with Queen."

 

"Looks like it was easier for you to figure it out than me." Yusaku turned and walked off into the night.

 

_I really should have noticed it earlier,_ Aoi thought as Akira led her back into the house. _His ice-cold hands, his green eyes...why didn't I figure it out earlier?_

_Well,_ _I suppose I would have found out sooner or later._

FIN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this story! Thank you so much for supporting me along the way. I will be posting a sequel to this soon in Yusaku's POV.


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